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I think many people have seen horrific scenes from the ...profitable Tokyo underground,where ...Gestapo like guards push the people into the wagons...
Sayonara..
Quality,privacy & health concerns are of paramount importance...
I rode the Tokyo subway system for a couple weeks back in 2007 while visiting the city, and it was flat-out amazing. The trains were perfectly timed, took you everywhere you needed to go, and were very clean. I did not experience the pushing and shoving I had seen on TV. Perhaps it exists at rush hour in some areas of the city...I don't doubt it, but from my experience I would ride it every day without thinking twice about it.
I also rode the bullet trains from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka. It was, bar none, the best transportation I have ever had the pleasure of riding, and all of my friends agreed. It was FAR superior to an airline flight...no security checks, no long lines, and no delays. Once on the train...QUIET. These things are dead silent unlike the obnoxious racket in an airline cabin. They are ultra-smooth too, and the seats recline back so you can kick your feet up and actually relax. Watch the scenery, get up and walk around, go use the nice bathrooms...no problems. I would kill to have a system like that in America, though I know why it does not.
I rode the Tokyo subway system for a couple weeks back in 2007 while visiting the city, and it was flat-out amazing. The trains were perfectly timed, took you everywhere you needed to go, and were very clean. I did not experience the pushing and shoving I had seen on TV. Perhaps it exists at rush hour in some areas of the city...I don't doubt it, but from my experience I would ride it every day without thinking twice about it.
I also rode the bullet trains from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka. It was, bar none, the best transportation I have ever had the pleasure of riding, and all of my friends agreed. It was FAR superior to an airline flight...no security checks, no long lines, and no delays. Once on the train...QUIET. These things are dead silent unlike the obnoxious racket in an airline cabin. They are ultra-smooth too, and the seats recline back so you can kick your feet up and actually relax. Watch the scenery, get up and walk around, go use the nice bathrooms...no problems. I would kill to have a system like that in America, though I know why it does not.
They wanted to build the first Mag-Lev train here in Orlando back in 1988 but Disney World killed it because the City Of Orlando wanted more then just runs from the airport to Disney World. They wanted stops along I-Drive, and Downtown Orlando too for commuters.
Disney wanted to keep all the tourists on their property so the Mag-Lev was killed. Also because they wanted an Epcot stop, but the train couldnt go there for some reason. Its in the book called Married to The Mouse, or at least I believe thats the title if I can remember it.
We want quality of transportation & that can be found only in private cars,on the ground...
We already concede to MT on sea & in the air,so the car is America's way of life last stand...
Reading this thread makes me think of the story of 5 blind men that were given an elephant to share but when describing to each other the parts of the elephant, they each had 5 different descriptions that conflicted with one-another, even though they were talking abut the same animal.
The SunRail project is just the start of a project that has opportunities to grow, hopefully fulfilling a vast majority of our needs in the Mass-Transit world. The current project utilizes the CSX "A" line, existing tracks used for commercial freight and Amtrak, between Debary and Poinciana. This route loosely follows the route of Interstate 4. For those commuters using I-4 as their main route of transit, the SunRail will offer an alternative to driving. Now this is not the end of the project. The CSX "A" line is a rail corridor that has been in place and active between Jacksonville and Tampa since 1885. (Yeah, 125 years!) If the state's SunRail project expands as intended, they will be able to expand in phases toward Tampa, and up to Jacksonville perhaps. Also in Auburndale another Rail line connects with this "A" line south to Miami and so there's potential to connect commuters this way although this is merely a concept, nothing has been discussed in SunRail's phases of expansion.
At the same time the Florida Central Railroad has proposed expanding the SunRail onto their corridor, in phases with the first phase running between Orlando, Apopka and Zellwood. Motorists who commute on US 441 would be given this alternative. The next phase would expand to Tavares in Lake County with the final phase going into Eustis and/or Mount Dora.
These are mere examples as to how Florida has lined up an infrastructure to lighten the burdens on our already exhausted highways. How does it benefit the everyday commuter? There are lots of pros and cons. But this is simply to give people the option of driving a car on a congested highway, paying for gas, insurance, etc. versus taking the time to use the area's infant-stage Mass Transit systems.
How do we pay for it? The same way the state pays for everything else we do. But just like the Toll roads and the non-toll roads, the capital to build the roads has to come from somewhere. There's not a contractor in the world that will do a job on the basis that they might get paid for it within the next 30 years. The same thing with schools, Civic services, HUD housing, trains and buses, etc. I think the SunRail is a good investment of the people's money if the state follows through with it's promises and completes the project. I will be very disappointed if it falls through because some yahoo in office wants instant gratification for something that will take time to establish but yet it doesn't come to fruition without putting the first pieces of the puzzle together.
In the meantime I look forward to stepping off a bus, then onto a train, then onto another bus to get to work, rather than driving. I do not enjoy driving on the main highways anymore.
I'd stop being pro-light rail if only they'd privatize the bus systems in this country.
I've used the admirable privatized chicken bus systems in Central America, as well as the option for the poorest which involves riding in the backs of pick-up trucks, and I dream of the day we can do likewise.
Where I live, if I'm not at a designated bus stop, the bus will not stop for you.
You must wait for the next one to come by. Same with exiting the bus. Will only stop at a designated bus stop.
In Central America, I've just waved to a bus and it stops for you, if I want to exit, say Stop, and it stops, might even be in the front of your destination, your home.
Here, people board the bus, fumble for the exact change, feed the coins into the slot, which delays the bus. In Central America, you merely hop on and a fare collector collects the fares en route.
I'm been left off in remote stretches of the country, and, before long, some form of transit is sure to come within a reasonable amount of time. It might just be that last leg of the journey involves having the wind buffeting my body on a hot day, hanging onto a rail in the back of a pick-up.
In the cities, I never have to wait more than a few minutes for another bus to come by.
Aside from that, it's fun to ride those buses. All along the way you'll have vendors hopping on and off the buses, trying to sell you anything from fried chicken, sandwiches, candy, vitamins, pharmaceutical products, pirated CD's and DVD's, products from department stores, you name it.
Unfortunately, we live in a highly litigious country, so such a luxurious transit system will probably never arrive here. Yes, it comes out of the third world, even though no one is yet willing to admit our country is teetering on the edge of the third world, each and every day.
I'd stop being pro-light rail if only they'd privatize the bus systems in this country.
I've used the admirable privatized chicken bus systems in Central America, as well as the option for the poorest which involves riding in the backs of pick-up trucks, and I dream of the day we can do likewise.
Where I live, if I'm not at a designated bus stop, the bus will not stop for you.
You must wait for the next one to come by. Same with exiting the bus. Will only stop at a designated bus stop.
In Central America, I've just waved to a bus and it stops for you, if I want to exit, say Stop, and it stops, might even be in the front of your destination, your home.
Here, people board the bus, fumble for the exact change, feed the coins into the slot, which delays the bus. In Central America, you merely hop on and a fare collector collects the fares en route.
I'm been left off in remote stretches of the country, and, before long, some form of transit is sure to come within a reasonable amount of time. It might just be that last leg of the journey involves having the wind buffeting my body on a hot day, hanging onto a rail in the back of a pick-up.
In the cities, I never have to wait more than a few minutes for another bus to come by.
Aside from that, it's fun to ride those buses. All along the way you'll have vendors hopping on and off the buses, trying to sell you anything from fried chicken, sandwiches, candy, vitamins, pharmaceutical products, pirated CD's and DVD's, products from department stores, you name it.
Unfortunately, we live in a highly litigious country, so such a luxurious transit system will probably never arrive here. Yes, it comes out of the third world, even though no one is yet willing to admit our country is teetering on the edge of the third world, each and every day.
Orlando is also the most litigious city in the country. Las Vegas isnt far behind either.
In spite of Central American tranist being easy and convenient, that also sounds dangerous. Even more so riding in the back of a pickup truck of a stranger you dont know.
It wouldn't happen so much in the US not really because of laws or litigation, but people today are just paranoid Its sad that even in this day and age you cant simply help somebody out by offering them a ride (like a stranded motorist) without them thinking what your motivation is other then offering genuine help with no strings attached
So you've drifeted over from the Vegas forum to the Orlando one? Just as I have from Orlando to Las vegas lol funny
It seems to be mostly pork. It is very ambitious but the stops go both too far north and south. I really am not sure how many people will use this train - Orlando is a car city. I agree with annerk that, for now, the money would be better spent on more buses.
Reading this thread makes me think of the story of 5 blind men that were given an elephant to share but when describing to each other the parts of the elephant, they each had 5 different descriptions that conflicted with one-another, even though they were talking abut the same animal.
The SunRail project is just the start of a project that has opportunities to grow, hopefully fulfilling a vast majority of our needs in the Mass-Transit world. The current project utilizes the CSX "A" line, existing tracks used for commercial freight and Amtrak, between Debary and Poinciana. This route loosely follows the route of Interstate 4. For those commuters using I-4 as their main route of transit, the SunRail will offer an alternative to driving. Now this is not the end of the project. The CSX "A" line is a rail corridor that has been in place and active between Jacksonville and Tampa since 1885. (Yeah, 125 years!) If the state's SunRail project expands as intended, they will be able to expand in phases toward Tampa, and up to Jacksonville perhaps. Also in Auburndale another Rail line connects with this "A" line south to Miami and so there's potential to connect commuters this way although this is merely a concept, nothing has been discussed in SunRail's phases of expansion.
At the same time the Florida Central Railroad has proposed expanding the SunRail onto their corridor, in phases with the first phase running between Orlando, Apopka and Zellwood. Motorists who commute on US 441 would be given this alternative. The next phase would expand to Tavares in Lake County with the final phase going into Eustis and/or Mount Dora.
These are mere examples as to how Florida has lined up an infrastructure to lighten the burdens on our already exhausted highways. How does it benefit the everyday commuter? There are lots of pros and cons. But this is simply to give people the option of driving a car on a congested highway, paying for gas, insurance, etc. versus taking the time to use the area's infant-stage Mass Transit systems.
How do we pay for it? The same way the state pays for everything else we do. But just like the Toll roads and the non-toll roads, the capital to build the roads has to come from somewhere. There's not a contractor in the world that will do a job on the basis that they might get paid for it within the next 30 years. The same thing with schools, Civic services, HUD housing, trains and buses, etc. I think the SunRail is a good investment of the people's money if the state follows through with it's promises and completes the project. I will be very disappointed if it falls through because some yahoo in office wants instant gratification for something that will take time to establish but yet it doesn't come to fruition without putting the first pieces of the puzzle together.
In the meantime I look forward to stepping off a bus, then onto a train, then onto another bus to get to work, rather than driving. I do not enjoy driving on the main highways anymore.
Blah blah blah. Want to know why it's defective? It talks about a bunch of po-dunk towns in Lake County and leaves out the most populated city in the county. Again until they get their act together and put together a RATIONAL plan that benefits the majority instead of a few mostly upscale areas with lots of money to pay lobbyists--this is nothing but a pork project that I can't support.
Also, it's a proven FACT that buses are cleaner, cost less to run, and create a LOT more jobs.
Given the proposed route I do not see enough benefit to central Florida as a whole. I think the money would be better spent on Lynx. They benefit the public much more than Sunrail will ever do.
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